Yohann Charrin, director of “Mise au vert”, a first feature film produced outside traditional circuits

Already one foot in the cinema since he has worked there for twenty years as cinematographer, Yohann Charrin realizes a childhood dream: his first feature film, Going green, a refreshing social and family comedy set in the magnificent landscapes of the Vercors, is released in theaters on September 20. I

We meet him at the premises of Kap films, its independent distributor, like this film which saw the light of day without going through the classic niches of French film production. White shirt, radiant smile, a bit feverish even though a few days before the film’s release, he tells franceinfo Culture behind the scenes of this comedy that he wanted “light and popular”, shot in three weeks on a small budget. A film that he managed to bring to theaters thanks to his know-how and a good dose of perseverance, but also thanks to the help of all the enthusiasts, technicians, actors, distributor, who got involved with him in this joyful adventure.

Franceinfo Culture: how was the idea of ​​this “Going Green” born?

Yohann Charrin: my family is from Saint-Julien-En-Vercors. About ten years ago, my mother inherited a small house, a sheepfold lost in the forest, without water, without electricity and without people. When she inherited it, the whole family decided to go there on vacation. She herself hadn’t set foot there for years. When we arrived there, there was a guy, a kind of outsider, who had taken up residence in the sheepfold. He had made a vegetable garden, installed water collectors, in short, he considered himself at home. We showed up and told him, now you’re no longer at home because it’s ours.

And so I said to myself, perhaps there is a story to tell, particularly on the question of property. Because in fact, this man really felt at home, and it wasn’t totally illegitimate on his part. Especially since we were throwing him out for what in the end? Go there twice a year for picnics? That’s how the idea for the scenario was born.

Originally, there was also this place, the Vercors, which offers magnificent scenery?

Yes, the decor is really nice. It’s a region that I know well, I spent all my holidays there, and even now, I go there with my family. It’s a region where I’ve always dreamed of shooting a film, and which has rarely been shown in the cinema, except to talk about the Resistance. But I needed an axis. So I imagined this family of Parisians who arrive in this house and discover upon arrival not one person, but quite a whole group… That was the starting point of the scenario. And then I live in the Paris suburbs, I’m also a little uprooted, I have teenage children, so I draw a lot of inspiration from my daily life.

But there is also a social portrayal of rurality in the film, right?

It’s a place where there is a real divide between the quote-unquote “local” people and the “neorural” people. The old farmers take a somewhat dim view of all these neo-rural people who arrive, settle down, cook organically and tell them how to farm without fertilizer, even though they know nothing about it at all. So this divide really exists, and with these three elements – the Parisians, the neo-rurals and the local villagers – I had a good basis for imagining funny situations and for making a comedy. So I started writing the screenplay six or seven years ago.

It took all this time to finally get the film released in theaters today, that’s a long time, isn’t it?

Initially, I tried to produce the film in traditional mode, as I had been told I should do. That is to say with known actors who provide funding from television channels. And it almost worked! I had found a producer, I had a “bankable” cast, in other words well-known actors who were committed, in short the film was budgeted at 3 million euros and interested big distributors… But it was my first film, the producer wasn’t very experienced either and so it wasn’t enough to convince the television channels. The script was considered not “comedy” enough or not “arthouse film” enough. It didn’t fit into the boxes.

“In France, auteur films are rarely comedies. Cinema production is really a very locked machine and I could see that for it to be done, it was going to be necessary to write, to rewrite, that it was going to take time. years before I could start shooting, and what’s more, the film would no longer resemble what I wanted to make…”

Yohann Charrin

At franceinfo Culture

And for me, what interested me was precisely to make a popular comedy but not a gag film either… A comedy which addresses questions about the couple, about the family, but also social, ecological questions, in featuring characters who have divergent points of view, with each other’s prejudices, but all in a light tone.

How did you go about successfully completing the project?

I didn’t want to distort my first idea. I wanted to make this film the way I wanted, without waiting years. I told myself that I had strengths. I already had the decor. Then, as a cinematographer, I had lots of technician friends, so I had my technical team. I also had actor friends who are very good, and who were ready to follow me. It was the opportunity to offer them a leading role. So there you have it, I created my company and started producing the film. Then I found an associate, Yohann Zweig, who invested a lot in the film, and who is also the composer of the soundtrack.

“In the absence of having the budget of other films, I surrounded myself with passionate people, actors and technicians, invested in each position.”

Yohann Charrin

at franceinfo Culture

You filmed in record time, between two confinements, during the summer of 2020, was it not too complicated?

No, it’s the opposite. As they had been locked up for weeks, when I told them you are going to be poorly paid but I suggest you spend a month in the Vercors, in the countryside, to shoot the film, they were so happy to come!

It was a short, tight shoot. We shot everything in 18 days. I happen to know how to shoot like that because I’ve made a lot of short films as a technician, and I’ve never really made films in comfort. So I know how to work with few resources, and it went really well. And then it’s also the setting that allowed us to make the film in this economy. If I had had to shoot in Paris, with several locations, it would have been much more complicated. This closed session in the Vercors was perfect. I had other scenarios in my pipeline, but I was a bit opportunistic on this one!

But the obstacle course was not yet over…

No, because it became more complicated afterward, for post-production and finding a distributor. The film was screened at festivals and it was popular, but it was 2021, the cinemas had been closed for 6, 8 months, and therefore all the distributors were cornered. They had I don’t know how many films on the shelves to be released and they didn’t really want to take any risks…

But have you found one?

Yes, KapFilms. I have to thank Arnaud Kerneguez, who is an independent distributor, in love with cinema, who is used to taking risks.

“For me it was essential that the film be released in theaters. I wanted to make a popular and family film in the good sense of the term. It is a film aimed at children, teenagers, adults, a film to watch as a family, in a moment of sharing. And that can be done at the cinema.”

Yohann Charrin

at franceinfo Culture

And then I still filmed for the big screen, with very wide shots to show the landscapes of the Vercors, and also some shots taken with a drone, without excess because I find that we see a little too much everywhere NOW. And so it’s still better to see all this in a room on a panoramic screen. But be careful, this is not a documentary about the Vercors either! That doesn’t stop me from hoping that the film will be bought by television and that it will have a second life.

The film comes out in theaters on Wednesday, how do you feel, what are you going to do on the day of the release?

It’s a bit scary though. We don’t know until three days before the release in how many theaters the film will be shown, and we also don’t know for how long, everything is decided in the first week… So on September 20 I don’t think I will resist I don’t want to sneak into a room to see the reaction of the spectators. And like everyone who makes films I will wait anxiously until the evening to know the figures. But whatever happens, I’m happy because I achieved the goal I set for myself. The film is released in theaters. For me it’s a childhood dream come true, and it’s a beautiful story for everyone, with a happy ending!